Prismatic, Ashley Cornelius, Spoken Word Poetry
Artist Statement
I exist to care for my soul by creating art unapologetically for public consumption, personal healing, and social justice. I translate human experiences into poetry to create bridges of understanding for diverse audiences to meet each other in empathy, compassion, and curiosity. My poetry honors the intersections of my identity and allows me to tell stories of revolutionary joy, rest, pain, rage and the complexities of my lived experiences. Poetry acts as an amplifier for my voice and I am dedicated to using my work as activism and advocacy. I aim to create mini universes in every poem for the audience/reader to sink into, explore, and grow in. I exist as a vehicle of healing so those seeking support can explore and utilize art as a tool to process and tell their stories. I fulfill my purpose by hosting workshops, performing, teaching, creating events, and speaking engagements from a therapeutic and artistic lens so that my communities and identities are remembered, represented and joyous. I capture memories and ancestral wisdom in the amber of my poetry. I aim to heal more and harm less and lead individuals, institutions, and systems to do the same. Poetry is my “first language” and the lens with which I see and interpret the world.
First Light on Daniels Pass Trail, Melani Tutt, Photograph
Artist Biography
Melani Tutt is a graduate of Brooks Institute of Photography in California with a Bachelor of Arts degree in large format film photography. She has worked commercially for over 30 years, most recently devoting her photographic efforts exclusively to helping nonprofit organizations in the Colorado Springs area, including Early Connections Learning Centers, Habitat for Humanity, Boys and Girls Club, Pikes Peak Community Foundation, the Tactile Gallery at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center and many others.
Finding our natural surroundings a place of respite and reflection, Melani worked with Garden of the Gods Resort and Wellness Center to create fine art images for their rooms, casitas, and cottages reflecting that ethos. This project led to the publishing of her first photography book The Sacredness of Everything. Her next book on Cheyenne Cañon will be available in December of 2024.
Melani’s images are intimate portraits of the simple beauty which surrounds us daily. Turning tragedy into beauty, many of her recent pieces are taken in burn scar forests and printed on fine art photographic paper. She is a purist who works in black and white as well as color. Each print is archival matted, numbered and signed.
Pikes Peak, Audrey Gray, Earth, Sand, Mica
Artist Statement
Audrey Gray – painting landscapes that I live in out of dirt from places I go.
All of my pigments are real dirt that I have gathered and processed by hand. Each time I take a road trip, a trowel and bags are packed in the car so I can stop along the way. Road-cuts and hillsides across the Southwest yield dirt of myriad hues, from iron-rich reds to soft pinks, ochres, and even green. Coal collected from the Four Corners area provides a deep, beautiful black. Using these materials, I create images of the landscapes that I live in and interact with.
Creating connection with the earth – for me, literally, by getting my hands into it with each piece I make.
Audrey Gray lives and creates in Colorado Springs, where she is close to the mountains and the sky.
Clarity, Susan J. Bowman, Egyptian Cotton, Silk, Handwoven, Hand Dyed, Cherry Rod
Artist Statement
Contemporary abstract weavings have comprised much of my work over the last several years, the result of combining large complex patterns with hand-dyed yarns. Each work studies how pattern and color intersect to create designs that are the hallmark of handmade cloth.
Pixel-by-pixel, I hand-draw basic pattern shapes in Adobe Photoshop®. I add other weaving information and place the final design into specialized weaving software. Thread color choice is an important decision and I often use dyes to create the effect I’m looking for. I work with both traditional and unusual materials depending on my goal and sometimes use a physical property, like wool shrinkage, to achieve interesting texture.
The repetitive, physical aspects of handweaving take time, a process that is quite meditative. Many thousands of yards of yarn pass through my hands on the way to becoming an ordered, stable web. I enjoy all the steps involved in handweaving but nothing compares to the feeling of throwing a shuttle and seeing my design develop into cloth.
I’ve been a weaver since 1985, am a Colorado native and graduate of Colorado School of Mines. I spent my career in the semiconductor industry and an engineer’s perspective is behind many of my choices in materials, design, and color.
Pikes Peak Signal Station, Henrietta Bromwell, Watercolor on Paper
Pikes Peak Below Manitou, Harriet Freeman Wright, Oil on Board
Mountain Pass, Harriet Freeman Wright, Oil on Board
Major Doma at Glen Eyrie, Pansy Stockton, Sticks, Moss, Pressed Flower, Leaves
Platte River Mountain, Anne Gregory Van Briggle Ritter, Oil on Canvas
Bear Lake, Elise Train, Watercolor on Paper
